Trump denies US role in Israeli south pars strike, threatens Iran over Qatar attack

Washington: US President Donald Trump distanced America from Israel's strike on Iran's vital South Pars gas field, warning Tehran of "massive" retaliation if it targets Qatar's LNG facilities again.

Speaking Wednesday night (local time), Trump said Israel "violently lashed out" at a "relatively small section" of South Pars "out of anger" over regional unrest—but stressed the US "knew nothing" about it. "The country of Qatar was in no way, shape, or form, involved with it, nor did it have any idea that it was going to happen," he added.

Trump accused Iran of striking Qatar's LNG facility "unjustifiably" without full facts, escalating the nearly three-week-old US-Israeli-Iran war into a perilous phase targeting global energy hubs.

"No more attacks will be made by Israel pertaining to this extremely important and valuable South Pars Field unless Iran unwisely decides to attack a very innocent, in this case, Qatar," he cautioned. "In which instance the United States of America, with or without the help or consent of Israel, will massively blow up the entirety of the South Pars Gas Field at an amount of strength and power that Iran has never seen or witnessed before."

Trump expressed reluctance: "I do not want to authorise this level of violence and destruction because of the long-term implications that it will have on the future of Iran, but if Qatar’s LNG is again attacked, I will not hesitate to do so."

The Wall Street Journal reports the tit-for-tat strikes risk volleys on oil-and-gas infrastructure, with the Strait of Hormuz—handling 20% of global oil and LNG in normal times—now effectively closed.

South Pars, Iran's largest gas field shared with Qatar, powers 75% of its gas production and 85% of its electricity. Iran has since branded regional energy assets "legitimate targets."

Tensions spike across the Gulf as the conflict threatens worldwide supplies.

(Inputs from IANS)